Finis Jennings Dake

Finis Jennings Dake (October 18, 1902 – July 7, 1987) was an American Pentecostal minister and evangelist born in Iberia, Miller County, Missouri. He is known primarily for his writings on Pentecostal and Charismatic evangelical Christian spirituality and dispensationalism. His most well-known work was the Dake Annotated Reference Bible, which Charisma magazine called "the Pentecostal Study Bible." The Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements states that Dake's "impact on conservative Pentecostalism cannot be overstated." He later wrote that he "rejected Christianity in my youth, until I found some believers who lived the life they professed." After weeks of deliberation, he experienced a born-again conversion and received what he described as "a great anointing of the Spirit" in May 1920, at age 17. Dake claimed that upon this experience he was immediately able to quote hundreds of Scripture verses without having previously memorized them, earning him the nickname "the Walking Bible." The May 27, 1936, issue of the Chicago Daily Tribune reported that Dake registered at hotels in Waukegan, Bloomington, and East St. Louis with the girl under the name "Christian Anderson and wife". With the possibility of a jury trial and subject to penalties of up to ten years' imprisonment and a fine of $10,000, Dake pleaded guilty, and served six months in the House of Corrections in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Though he maintained his innocence of intent, his ordination with the Assemblies of God was revoked. Jimmy Swaggart wrote of Dake: "Finis Dake was a scholar unparalleled. I owe my Bible education to this man." The Christian Research Institute has characterized some of Dake's doctrines as having "as much in common with the cults as with historic Christian theology."